A place made by a mom for moms ( and dads too!)

Homemade Rangoons… Very fattening but very good. They go fast, but are a real treat and far cheaper to make than buy pre-made.

What you’ll need:

Wonton wraps (1 pack is normally enough)
A small bowl of cold water
1 whipped can of cream cheese
1 can crab meat
1 can baby shrimp
4 chopped green onion leeks
1 bottle of new vegetable or canola oil
(Optional: add more shrimp or crab meat or onions for a bigger bolder seafood flavor)

To make the wraps:

Mix the whipped cream cheese, onions, crab meat, and shrimp in a large bowl and chill for 30 minutes.
Start warming your oil up till its fry-ready (drop a bit of a wonton in and if it sizzles and pops, you’re ready to fry!)
Once chilled, take a wonton wrap and put a small to medium dollop of the mix in the center of it.
Wet your fingers in the water and draw them along the edge of one side (inside) of the wrap to hold together for during the fry.
Once you’ve made all of the wontons up, drop four to five into the oil. Stay close so you can remove them once they are golden brown.
Fry ’em all up, and once done, lay them on a paper towel bed to absorb excess oil.
Serve hot and enjoy!

Note: if the wraps are ‘ungluing’ in the fry, reline with water and chill for ten minutes. Try again.

Lots of pictures with this one, but its worth it to share our fun. Before we were new parents, Lee and I were in love with costuming. We actually won an award at a cosplay event! Well, we were inspired at one point or another by seeing the play Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street to make our own costumes and learn the songs from the popular musical. My husband made most everything and I put the trim and finer detailing on the costumes. We would go around downtown San Antonio and sing and dance while handing out ‘bloody’ (read red glittery icing) brownie bites and ‘meat’ fruit pies. We had a blast! Once Linden was born, we had to include him, so we made him into a little meat pie for his first Halloween using a baby pumpkin pattern. I made veggies for the cute pie costume out of felt sheets and batting. We didn’t get to go out that year due to colic and cranky baby, and last year we ended up going as a princess, her protector rogue guy, and a little dragon. Sadly during our last move, my top was put in a box that went to Goodwill by accident. I guess once Nathan gets here, we will have a Toby, Sweeney, Lovett (I get a new costume!) and our meat pie for next year. :). What are you all planning on being for Halloween?

Linden’s grandma Judy sent him a red oven for his second birthday, and it is amazing. Very well built and he is loving it… Technically he doesn’t turn 2 until the 26th, but we couldn’t wait and with her blessing we gave it to him early.

A wonderful thing to eat when you’re sick… My husband always asks for this when he is.

What you’ll need:

3-4 cleaned chicken breasts
egg noodles (or any noodle… in the photo I can also see some zitti)
fresh parsley
6-7chicken broth boullion cubes (yes this makes for a rich and hearty soup)
butter to taste
Pepperoncinni to taste

Boil your water and add the chicken boullion cubes
Once melted, add the chicken
Let the chicken cook to almost done and add the noodles.
Add your butter (it makes sure the noodles don’t stick and adds to the flavor)
Add your parsley to taste
Let the meal cook down until the liquid looks like it does in the picture (or close to, should take about 1-1 1/2 hours))
Add your peppers if you want
Enjoy
(Also great for cold days!)

Per-heat oven to 350
Mix pecans and coconut.
Sprinkle in a greased 9×15 baking dish
Follow instructions on cake box and pour over nut mixture
Cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar, margarine and vanilla
Drop large dollops onto the cake mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
There should be large craters in the cake and possible cracks
No two cakes are alike! 🙂 they all look like a mistake but taste wonderful!

To make this, you need to keep in mind, I am from the south (and use southern measurments to cook with). I also come from a family that eats together a lot, so that means lots of food…

6-8 medium to large sweet golden potatoes
8 ish Kosher Dill Pickles (or any other dill pickle will do)
9 ish medium to large eggs (both the white and brown work, we prefer brown)
Vinegar to taste
Pickle juice to taste
A large dollop or two of mayonaise (I prefer Helmans or Best Foods)
A long squirt or two of mustard (the cheaper, the better)

Boil both eggs and potatoes to completion (potatoes are soft and eggs are hard) and put in the fridge (or if you’re impatient like I am, in the freezer for faster results) to cool down to handle easier
Dice pickles, eggs, and potatoes and put in bowl
Slowly add the rest of your ingrediants. Add small amounts at a time to taste.
The finished product will be creamy, but chunky (if that makes sense)
Cool in fridge

This is little Nathaniel Jax, our little one due in October. This picture was taken at week 20. So it’s about seven weeks old! Hard to believe its been that long since we’ve seen him. Yesterday I went in for my gestational diabetes test (yes I am enjoying sugars right now until we find out if I have it or not… We don’t think so) and a measurement. I was 26 weeks 5 days in and we are measuring at 30 weeks already! My weight isn’t an issue and I am all belly right now, so it was a shock to hear we are measuring so far ahead. Nate is very active and healthy, kicking and moving daily. He also makes his demands known already, ordering his mommy to partake of the Golden Grahams boxed cereal even as we speak. Lol! I’ll keep you updated on his progress as we near our due date, but I wanted to introduce you to lil’ snorter #2!

This has got to be one of my more favorite breakfasts. French toast with sugar for a dipping side. Normally everyone wants seconds of it! I will warn you, I have never measured the ingredients for this particular dish. I was taught as a little girl to use my senses to cook with on certain recipes and this is one of them. That means taste your dish! Smell your dish! Use your eyes to see if it looks okay…

What you will need:

(For a serving size of two)

4-6 pieces of thick sliced bread (Thick holds up better when frying.)
A cinnamon shaker
Either fresh ground nutmeg or a nutmeg shaker
5 or so eggs
~3 Tbs vanilla extract*
~1 Cup sugar*
A tub of butter to use to fry with (Yes, I said butter and I did warn you I am a southern cook, lol)
1 large tall lipped frying pan

(~ = give or take)

How to cook:
This recipe goes very fast, so ill only have you start the heat and frying pan up after you make the mix.
In a large mixing bowl, beat all of your eggs up till they are nice and scrambled.
Add your cinnamon and nutmeg and beat in. Use as much as you like to taste. I prefer about six or seven (per each spice) good shakes as this has to be used for all of the bread.
Add your sugar slowly, again to your sugar liking. I am not telling you to taste the eggs by the way. Just keep in mind your preference. Keep in mind the consistency of the eggs. They should still beat smoothly.
Add your vanilla.
Beat up the whole mixture.
Heat up your butter (use an appropriate amount for a very thin layer to spread on the entirety of the pan)
Dip each piece of bread in the mix (up to three at a time can go into the pan) and fry until the egg is fluffy and done.
Fry up any remaining eggs for some tasty scrambled eggs.
Add the remainder of your sugar to the side of the plate and serve hot! Enjoy this sweet take on normal French Toast.

Sweet, sweet rain! First one we’ve had in weeks here in Denton, Texas. It was windy for a bit, but now the downpour doesn’t show signs of stopping. Right when we are expecting a package for our son’s birthday (a cute little kitchen from his grandma.) but Linden is going around saying “Wain! Wain!” Gotta love it. Time to turn in for a bit to enjoy this Summer “wain”. Stay safe if you’re in our area!

Our son met his first “girlfriend” when he was about four months old and she ten. She is my friend’s beautiful little girl and they had fun. Since then they’ve only met up twice, but each time, they have had no problems warming right up to each other and playing within minutes. Now he is turning 2 this year and she is just about 2.5 years old and they had their fourth play date. I must say it was the cutest thing ever to watch them play and share today. While we were visiting, on one of their breaks from each other, she (Brenna) brought my husband about twenty books to read, and wouldn’t you know it, she climbed up in his lap and he read. And read. And read. Later on, I had the extreme pleasure of being brought some of her precious lovies (blankets and baby doll.) I hope if we ever have a little girl she’s just like her!
Back to their play date though… Brenna and Linden wound up sitting on opposite sides of a sit-n-spin just jabbering at each other (Linden is just learning how to articulate; he knows car and other simple words, but understands many more than he lets on.) Later on, I caught them playing together with a play doll house, he had the car and she was ringing the doorbell. He had the best of times today and came home to take a much needed nap. Here’s hoping we can do this more often!